Night Pro, Lucky Lime win Miami Valley opens

A rain-drenched sloppy race track didn’t prevent a pair of Open paces at Miami Valley from producing quick miles on Saturday night (Feb. 24).

Night Pro captured the $22,000 Open I in 1:51.2 in gate-to-wire fashion for owner-trainer-driver Dale Decker. It was the 54th career win for the 8-year-old son of Pro Bono Best and the outstanding former race mare Midnight Jewel. As is his custom recently, Night Pro blasted from behind the wings to a :26.2 opening quarter. Following a relative breather to the :54.4 halfway point, Decker pushed the pedal to the metal through a 1:23.1 third stanza before completing the mission with a :28.1 final split to hold off Stuckey Dote (Kyle Ater) and Feelnlikearockstar (Tony Hall).

The $20,000 Open II pace produced an equally impressive win for Lucky Lime, who tripped the final teletimer in 1:51 for driver Kyle Ater. Following a give-and-go at the quarter pole, Lucky Lime cut the remainder of the mile before fronting Caviart Midnight (Trace Tetrick) and Doctor Carter (Josh Sutton) through the finish line.

It was the 40th lifetime victory for the 9-year-old son of Rocknroll Hanover, owned by Kirk Nichols and trained by Ohio Hall Of Famer Dan Ater.